Black Dagger
14th September 2007, 06:06
Day of Action: Defend the Right to Oppose Racist State Brutality!
Stop the Racist Political Persecution of a Palm Island Aboriginal Resident!
Drop the Charges Against Lex Wotton!
On November 2004 the Palm Island Aboriginal community responded to years of racist state violence and the death in police custody of Mulrunji with a defiant demonstration demanding justice. The immediate trigger for the protest was the release of the first state inquiry into Mulrunji's death which, while noting that he had suffered a ruptured liver and four broken ribs, whitewashed the death as being the result of a "scuffle". Finally almost two years after the death, a second Coronial inquiry in September 2006 confirmed what everyone already knew: that on November 19, 2004 at the Palm Island police station Senior-Sergeant Chris Hurley had struck Mulrunji with such force that it caused the Aboriginal man to die.
Four hundred people took part in the 2004 Palm Island anti-racist action – over 10% of the entire island's population! The large demonstration marched upon the centres of racist injustice on the island – the police station and courthouse. Queensland authorities responded with vicious repression and singled out individuals for persecution. On March 22 a jury acquitted four Palm Islanders of charges of "riot" in connection with the November 2004 demonstration. But the state continues to target respected Palm Island man Lex Wotton whom they allege was the leader of the protest. They have outrageously singled out Wotton with a charge of "riot with destruction", a charge that could lead to a jail sentence in excess of ten years.
Far from being a "riot", the November 2004 protest was a completely justified act of anti-racist resistance. The struggle, like the Redfern resistance nine months earlier, brought the question of state racism in Australia to national and international prominence. It was a big factor in why, in this one case from Palm Island, a policeman who was responsible for the death of a black person in custody had to face court (unlike in hundreds of earlier black deaths in custody). The fact that the courts recently acquitted Hurley is once again confirmation of how stacked the legal system is against black people and how justified it was for the people of Palm Island to stand up to the institutions of this racist system in November 2004.
The state's attempts to jail Lex Wotton are aimed at intimidating all future opposition to racist persecution. Today, federal and state governments are trying to scare people away from responding to the whitewash of Mulrunji's killing and want to frighten people away from resisting the draconian military/police invasion of Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. Everyone who has an interest in opposing racist violence and in standing up to all forms of exploitation and oppression – Aboriginal people, working class people and anti-racists of all colours – must stand for the dropping of the charges against Lex Wotton.
When? Rally on September 22 * Saturday, 1pm
Where? The Block (Eveleigh St, Redfern)
*Note that the rally date has been moved one week forward from the original September 29 date
Stop the Racist Political Persecution of a Palm Island Aboriginal Resident!
Drop the Charges Against Lex Wotton!
On November 2004 the Palm Island Aboriginal community responded to years of racist state violence and the death in police custody of Mulrunji with a defiant demonstration demanding justice. The immediate trigger for the protest was the release of the first state inquiry into Mulrunji's death which, while noting that he had suffered a ruptured liver and four broken ribs, whitewashed the death as being the result of a "scuffle". Finally almost two years after the death, a second Coronial inquiry in September 2006 confirmed what everyone already knew: that on November 19, 2004 at the Palm Island police station Senior-Sergeant Chris Hurley had struck Mulrunji with such force that it caused the Aboriginal man to die.
Four hundred people took part in the 2004 Palm Island anti-racist action – over 10% of the entire island's population! The large demonstration marched upon the centres of racist injustice on the island – the police station and courthouse. Queensland authorities responded with vicious repression and singled out individuals for persecution. On March 22 a jury acquitted four Palm Islanders of charges of "riot" in connection with the November 2004 demonstration. But the state continues to target respected Palm Island man Lex Wotton whom they allege was the leader of the protest. They have outrageously singled out Wotton with a charge of "riot with destruction", a charge that could lead to a jail sentence in excess of ten years.
Far from being a "riot", the November 2004 protest was a completely justified act of anti-racist resistance. The struggle, like the Redfern resistance nine months earlier, brought the question of state racism in Australia to national and international prominence. It was a big factor in why, in this one case from Palm Island, a policeman who was responsible for the death of a black person in custody had to face court (unlike in hundreds of earlier black deaths in custody). The fact that the courts recently acquitted Hurley is once again confirmation of how stacked the legal system is against black people and how justified it was for the people of Palm Island to stand up to the institutions of this racist system in November 2004.
The state's attempts to jail Lex Wotton are aimed at intimidating all future opposition to racist persecution. Today, federal and state governments are trying to scare people away from responding to the whitewash of Mulrunji's killing and want to frighten people away from resisting the draconian military/police invasion of Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. Everyone who has an interest in opposing racist violence and in standing up to all forms of exploitation and oppression – Aboriginal people, working class people and anti-racists of all colours – must stand for the dropping of the charges against Lex Wotton.
When? Rally on September 22 * Saturday, 1pm
Where? The Block (Eveleigh St, Redfern)
*Note that the rally date has been moved one week forward from the original September 29 date